Abstract

China attracted a record $52.7 billion US dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the year 2002, surpassing the US to become the world's largest FDI recipient. China's success in attracting FDI has received significant attention from academics. Several theoretical approaches have been developed to explain the determinants of FDI in China. However, it seems to be ignored that China has also become a growing provider of significant FDI to the rest the world. Both China and Vietnam were and are experiencing transitions from centrally planned economies to free market economies. This paper, therefore, attempts to explore the development of Chinese investment in Vietnam, analysing the main motives for, and characteristics of, Chinese MNEs investment in Vietnam.